Letter from Grandmama Rolier, née... (1856)

NRA-L-000076 / 1856

Letter from Grandmama Rolier, née Benielli, to Gustave de Reiset, May 30, 1856

An elderly family correspondent expresses affection for Gustave and Bianca and hopes to see more descendants; a later family note identifies her as Grandmama Rolier, née Benielli.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000076

NRA-L-000076 image 1 showing an Italian manuscript letter on folded paper. — **Image 1**Letter text.

NRA-L-000076 image 2 showing the reverse with a brief manuscript note, embossed marks, folds, and text showing through the paper. — **Image 2**Reverse with brief note and embossed marks.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000076
Date: 1856-05-30
Original date: Pariggi il 30 mag 1856
Type: Family correspondence
Language: Italian / it
Sender: Grandmama Rolier (née Benielli)
Recipient: Gustave de Reiset
Places: Paris, France
Extent: 2 documentary sides: Letter text; Reverse with brief note and embossed marks; 2 digital images.
Signature: Widow Rolier
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000076.

Rights & reuse

Reuse is welcome. Publicly available images may be reused for non-commercial purposes with attribution, and automated machine use is permitted with provenance. Commercial republication requires prior written permission.

Full rights & reuse terms

Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Letter text

Original transcript

Pariggi il 30 mag
1856

Desiderate mio caro figlio
che vi scriva alcune righe,
ma cosa potrò dirvi di più
di quel vi ho detto; si vi
dirò dunque che vi amo del
più profondo del mio cuore
se la mia cara Bianca vivendo
felice sarà per me in questo
mondo una parte della
felicità celeste. ma non mi
presserò di fare il viaggio,
per che disidero di vedere
di godere due o tre figli e;
anche, quattro; e mi pare
di non essere troppo esigente
di domandare a Dio questa
grazia. vi abbraccio tutte
due mille volte; e più se lo
desiderate, per rendervi
contente. sono la vostra
affezionata Madre e gran
madre e, bisaiola ve Rolier

Letter text

English translation

Paris, 30 May 1856.
You wish, my dear son, that I write you a few lines, but what more can I tell you than what I have already said? Yes, I will therefore tell you that I love you from the depths of my heart.
If my dear Bianca lives happily, it will be for me in this world a part of heavenly happiness. But I will not hasten to make the journey, because I wish to see two or three children and take joy in them—even four—and it seems to me that I am not too demanding in asking God for this grace.
I embrace you both a thousand times, and more if you wish it, to make you happy. I am your affectionate mother and grandmother and great-grandmother,
Widow Rolier.

Discovery Terms

Family correspondence
Grandmothers
Great-grandparents
Descendants
Paris

Transcriptions and English translations are provided as working scholarly aids, not as replacements for the images of the original documents. Some readings may remain uncertain, especially where handwriting, spelling, damage, abbreviations, names or places are difficult.

Some transcriptions and translations may be prepared with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by Neruda Archives before publication. Better readings, corrections and alternative translations are welcome when they are supported by the manuscript image, context or reliable sources.

When suggesting a correction, please include the item ID, the relevant line or image area, the proposed reading or translation, and the evidence for it.

Suggest a better reading or correction

Relevant line or image area Proposed reading or translation Evidence or reason

Your name Your email

Your name and email are optional. Personal data is used only to assess, document and, where possible, respond to this correction. See the Privacy Notice.